newmoonstar: (icon by marble_feet)
Life has been crazy lately- I've had family crisis come up that makes my schedule unpredictable, so I had to quit the Shakespeare play I was doing. I feel horribly guilty because it opens next week, but there's no way I can commit to the rigorous schedule of it right now. And I actually got to sing in one scene, and I really miss singing with other people, so I'm rather gutted to be missing out on that. But sometimes there's nothing you can do when everything happens at once. *sigh*

Obviously, I haven't had any time for sewing and I think my Peggy Carter cosplay will have to be shelved. Boo. But I can always wear one of my old Disney Princess outfits for that convention. What I really need to concentrate on making a wardrobe for is TeslaCon! I've been designing random steampunk things for years that I've never actually made, so this is the year to finally do it! I'm washing up some fabric and hoping to start sewing as soon as I have some free time.

My Doctor Who watch-a-thon has resumed with 'Revenge of the Cybermen'. Reactions here )
newmoonstar: (icon by marble_feet)
I've been trying to get back to sewing again after the craziness of Costume-Con, so I decided to start by making some doll dresses. I have a huge stash of doll clothes patterns and little fabric remnants to use up, and I'm quite pleased with this Vogue 1950s Barbie sundress I just finished:
1950s doll dress

(I'll have to find a doll without blue legs to model it sometime later lol)

Also I've been a little remiss in my Doctor Who watching- I'm taking a break to go back and watch season 1 of Agent Carter. I'm horribly put out that it just got cancelled, as it's a great show, and I think I have a need to cosplay Peggy Carter now! I have a vintage 1940s felt hat that I think could work if I can find a red, white and blue ribbon for it, and I'm sure I've got a 1940s suit pattern I can use. (And if the hat doesn't work, there's a vintage clothing fair in town next month! Of course it's on the same day that the play I'm on the crew for has two shows, but I'll just have to get up early so I can go vintage shopping before the play starts!)
newmoonstar: (icon by marble_feet)
And here we have the grand finale of my Costume Con wardrobe: the pink 1870 ballgown!
1870 ballgown

More behind the cut! )
newmoonstar: (icon by marble_feet)
Just one pic of the flapper outfit I wore to the Friday Night Social:
flapperburgundy

I bought this dress at a rummage sale years ago at a cost of about 50 cents, and I just altered it to make it look 1920s. I adore it, and it reminds me of one Lady Mary wore on Downton Abbey, so I wore it with a black wig and a jeweled headband in an attempt to look like her. I don't think I was successful in that, but it was a cute outfit and I had fun wearing it, and people liked it, so that's what's important. :)

(Apologies for the crappy mirror selfie- the lights were turned down at the social so you couldn't really get pics. Please ignore the room full of fabric in the background!)
newmoonstar: (icon by marble_feet)
Here is the 1898 green cotton summer suit I made, which I wore on Saturday:
GEDC0046

more behind cut )
newmoonstar: (icon by marble_feet)
After a crazy busy weekend of last minute sewing, all my dresses got done, got worn, and won ribbons! I didn't compete any of them in the Masquerades, but getting hall costume awards for all three of the new outfits I made was a nice surprise and I'm so proud of it. I saw so many amazing costumes of all kinds over the weekend, learned new things, and the Masquerades were the best ones I've seen at any convention. And I met Theresa LaQuey! (I didn't realize it till the after the con ended, but she actually designed the very first doll dress pattern I ever made back when I started out sewing! *nostalgic sniffles*)

Anyway, on to the pics! Here is my early 1870s walking dress, aka Dream Dress #1, which I wore during the day on Sunday:

1870 day dress

more pics under cut )
newmoonstar: (icon by marble_feet)
Costume Con is this week! The 1870 day dress is almost done but for a few finishing touches, and the 1870 ball dress should hopefully be done just in time! Building a new era of dress from the ground up, including all the underpinnings, took a lot of time, and consequently I have nothing else new to wear during the day on Sunday. I'm wondering now what I should wear, and thinking either the 1870 day dress again; my Lady Mary Crawley cosplay (because when else will I be able to cosplay a character from Downton Abbey? Even if no one gets it, it's still a fun flapper dress!) or my 1860s summer dress- which, while it is pretty, it's also the only 1860s dress I have that currently fits, so I wore it reenacting all last year and am rather tired of it. However, it already has accessories, and hoopskirts have more wow factor than most other styles. IDK.

pics of said 1860s dress, for the curious )

I really did want to do a dress diary type thing with work-in-progress pics but now it'll have to wait till my next historical dress project- I've got so much sewing to do yet that I even skipped the season finale of Grantchester, and if I give up Masterpiece or Mystery!, you know it's serious! But I still had to watch Mr. Selfridge because no one can give up everything :p

(Grantchester has finally grown on me after all, though it's generally a bit of a downer. But it's a British period mystery show, so there's wasn't much chance I'd able to keep away from it for long, lol. I usually want to scream at Sidney for being a self-destructive human train wreck, and I really don't care for his tortured romance with Amanda at all, but it's all very nice to look at, at least! I'm genuinely fond of Leonard especially, and I very much hope his tentative romance with his new boyfriend doesn't end sadly, because he's a beautiful cinnamon roll who deserves happiness and I will cry if anything bad happens to him.)

Onward to more sewing!
newmoonstar: (icon by marble_feet)
Costume Con is two weeks away and I really need to get my dresses done! The only outfit I actually have completed is my 1898 summer suit. I have about half the work still to go on the bustle dresses, and I think only two of them will get done. I've decided to do all the same era so that I would have less new undergarments to make- the 1870 crinolette bustle has a lovely silhouette, and is my personal favorite, so I went with that, but I hadn't anticipated how impossible it is to sit down in one of those things! I'm quite worried about what a nightmare it'll be to wear at the convention, but I've committed to it, so no going back now! I feel slightly guilty about using slubbed silk though, since it's not period, but I'm far too broke to afford silk taffeta at the moment, and the day dress I'm making is inspired by a vintage hat I own and plan to wear with it, and I already had some dupioni silk in my stash that was the exact matching colors, so free and matching trumps expensive and historically accurate in this case. It's all for fun anyway, and I hope I won't encounter any of the sort of costumers who'd look down on someone for something like that.

(Some references to what I'm talking about for anyone not steeped in 19th century fashion: the day dress I'm making is based on this dress from the Mint Museum:)
http://www.mintmuseum.org/?open_collection=%2Fresources%2Fcollection-database%2Fitem%2F2005.36.1A-E%2Fafternoon-ensemble-bodice-skirt-overskirt-coat-unfinished-2nd-bodice%2F

Fandom-wise, I've at least had the opportunity to listen to lots of Big Finish Doctor Who stories while I cut out fabric- more than I can properly review here right now, but I just heard 'The Companion Chronicles: The Last Post' today and absolutely adored it. I liked Liz's mum and think they're great together, and it was a clever story, how it was woven through all of the serials of season 7. I guess it was Caroline John's last time playing Liz, too, which I didn't realize till I looked inside the CD booklet after it was over, and it's a good thing I didn't know while I was listening, because I would have been very sad! I love Liz so much, and we're so lucky we get to have a few more stories with her because of Big Finish. Bless Big Finish, for they are doing the Lord's work. ♥ (Well, Time Lord's work, at any rate! LOL)
newmoonstar: (icon by marble_feet)
Behold: a random blog update! Nothing terribly exciting to speak of- I've been sewing pretty much constantly and will continue to do so up until the first weekend in May for Costume Con. I have six new Victorian dresses in the works, which means several new period correct undergarments to go with them, so it's a big project, but it's been my dream to go to a costuming convention with a fabulous historical wardrobe to wear for as long as I can remember, so hell or high water will not stop me until they're all done!

Of course, this also means I have very little time for anything else, and already had to give up auditioning for three plays that open the same weekend as the convention. I signed up for [livejournal.com profile] dw_guestfest too, and really want to do it, but I've found absolutely no time to write lately either. Still, I hope a miracle will happen between now & my chosen posting date and I'll find time to do it, so I'm not quite ready to give up on the possibility just yet.

Still trying to keep up my epic Classic Who watch-a-thon as well, albeit at a much slower pace. I'm currently watching the beginning of the Fourth Doctor's run, and enjoying the team of Four, Sarah Jane, and Harry immensely. (And now I've finally seen episodes with every single TARDIS team in Classic Who! I'm nearing the end of the voyage! Only two full seasons and a few stray serials left before I'm finished! IDK whether I'm happy or sad to be almost done with this wonderful crazy show.) The Ark in Space was so very good- the design of the space station looked really great, and the story was very suspenseful and totally nail-biting throughout. And Harry is just delightful- I think he wins the prize for best under-reaction for a first time TARDIS-traveller with his mildly concerned "oh, I say!" upon landing on a space station thousands of years in the future! Too bad he doesn't stay through all of next season. And it's still a bit strange to be seeing Sarah Jane so young, after having met her first in 'The Sarah Jane Adventures', but it's also kind of interesting, because if you think about, that must be what it's like to actually live in the timey-wimey Doctor Who universe, where time-travel is real and you don't always meet people in the right order. Doctor Who is weird and I love it.

Anyway, away I go to get some sleep so I can sew more tomorrow.
newmoonstar: (Doctor Who Barbara)
I'm going to see the national tour of 'The Sound of Music' in two weeks! Squee!! Very exciting! And Ashley Brown is playing the Mother Abbess! I saw her live as Laurey in 'Oklahoma!' a few years ago and she was fantastic, I'm really looking forward to seeing her again. The rest of the cast and the whole production look very nice too, so hopefully it should be fun. I just hope it won't be too snowy outside, because I have a lovely new dress I'd like to wear for it, but I don't want to have to give it up and have to wear jeans and winter boots instead due to a blizzard.

Anyway, I'm supposed to be sewing things for my big costuming convention, but the cold winter weather (and this 'getting dark at 5pm' nonsense) is somewhat sapping the life out of me at the moment. All I want to do is sleep!

And I have even more costumes to sew now that I've got tickets for a Steampunk convention this fall. It's probably stupid to go to another con the week before I have to go to a Doctor Who con, but I've always wanted to get into Steampunk, and it's right here in town, so best to give it a try when you don't have to stay in a hotel, right? I hope I can get everything done! Especially since I've been trying to write some Whofic too. I should probably put that on hold till after Costume Con, but the writing bug just creeps up when you least expect it. Might do [livejournal.com profile] dw_guestfest again this year if I keep getting ideas- or just leave some prompts, then I won't have to actually write them myself. Best of both worlds. ;)
newmoonstar: (Aztec Barbara)
I've only completed 6 new fics this year, but since everyone else seems to have done this already:Fic Writing Meme )
newmoonstar: (Default)
[Error: unknown template qotd]2015 was the year I finally got back into theater after years of being afraid to try & and telling myself I'd do it 'someday', so that's definitely the most important thing I did this past year!

But it's important in more ways than I thought it would be: aside from just achieving a goal I'd set myself, I learned so much, did things I didn't think I was capable of, and met so many amazing people. The friendships that have come out of the two plays I've stage managed are as important to me as the pride I take in having helped put on two great shows. That so many people were willing to give me a chance, & believed in me- even at those times when I didn't- is the most amazing gift I've ever been given. I found the place that I belong now, and that makes me really excited for the new year for the first time in forever. If 2016 is even half as good as 2015, I'll count myself the luckiest duck in the pond. I don't make New Year's resolutions anymore, because I'm terrible at actually keeping them, but I'm going to try to just keep doing what I've been doing, and hopefully more new adventures will come my way. :)
newmoonstar: (Doctor Who: The Romans)
Once again, so much to tell since my last update! My panto closed last weekend- it was hard work, but worth it for all the laughter, and all the things I learned, and all the new friends I made. I miss it already! But my friends from the show convinced me to join Facebook after years of resisting, since apparently they have more privacy options now, so at least I'll still be able to hear from them all. (P.S. Facebook is apparently for people with way too much time on their hands- how can anyone sort through it all?! I'm not exactly a social butterfly and have no idea how people can have hundreds upon hundreds of 'friends', but I'm limiting 'friends' to people I've actually met, so that should hopefully keep it manageable. We'll see how it goes, or if I retreat in terror!)

But today is Christmas, so Merry Christmas to everyone! (Or Happy Holidays, since there are many other splendid mid-winter festivities in the world!) I'm celebrating with a turkey dinner and my usual round of old Christmas movies, so I'd say I've had myself a merry little Christmas, and I hope everyone else is having happy and peaceful celebrations too. :D

I wanted to write some holiday-themed Whofic, since I haven't had time to write anything while the panto was running, but earlier this week I had the cast party for our show to go to, and then an actual Christmas cookie party at my house with some friends from the show (which were both so much fun!), so I was cooking and/or cleaning my house this week instead of writing. But there's always New Years, so holiday fic could still happen! I've got all those prompts to fill at [livejournal.com profile] dw_allsorts after all. ;D
newmoonstar: (Doctor Who Barbara)
Wow, golly, so much stuff has happened since I last updated this journal!

#1: I went to Chicago TARDIS and it was awesome! I got two of my new cosplays done, and two more I put together from items in my wardrobe, so I actually had four new for the weekend, and they were all big hits and lots of fun to wear. Got pics and autographs with the UNIT team and Paul McGann (while in costume!) and generally saw a lot of cool stuff and met lots of lovely people (there were so many First Doctor companion cosplayers there! We had a meet-up and it was amazing!). Pics and further stories will be sorted through soon, since I'm kind of busy at the moment, due to the next thing on this list...

#2: The Cinderella panto I'm stage managing opened this weekend! It was really hard to try to learn how to call a show in literally three days, but I've mostly figured it out and am getting better at it with each performance as I get used to it.

#3: Finished the Third Doctor's era in my great Classic Who watch-a-thon. I have many feelings about it! I'll write up a proper review when I'm less tired! :P
newmoonstar: (icon by marble_feet)
I'm a bit behind schedule on all my fannish projects at the moment. Stage managing a show is time consuming, and it'll only get worse the closer to opening night we get. I'm slightly worrying that I'll only have one of my cosplays done before Chicago TARDIS, and also that I won't have anything at all done for [livejournal.com profile] who_at_50. I started a fic, but it veered off into very silly crackfic, and now I don't think the muse of comedy is really with me anymore. *sigh* At least I picked the last day of November for my posting date!

In other news, I went to see the National Tour of Wicked: The Musical, which was absolutely fantastic! I had wanted to go on my birthday or Halloween, but there was one front row center seat left the night before Halloween, so I took it! It was very sweet, and funnier than I expected, and of course it's a gorgeous production. Sitting so close you get to see all the details in the sets and costumes, which are just incredible. You miss some of the pretty staging from that angle, but when the fog effects roll out onto you, and Glinda's bubbles land in your hair, you feel like you're right in the middle of that world. And best of all, you get to see the actor's faces and get drawn into the characters journeys, which is the most important thing to me. The cast I saw was wonderful, and the actresses playing Elphaba (Mary Kate Morrissey) & Glinda (Carrie St. Louis) were perfect. Couldn't have asked for a better birthday present. (Although a friend of mine got to go backstage for a tour and danced with Fiyero- I admit to being slightly jealous!)

Classic Who watching continues- very glad to get to Sarah Jane's eps at last, though my enjoyment of 'The Time Warrior' was a little overshadowed by the fact that I watched it while I was really sick. But yay for Sarah Jane! Though it's a bit strange to see her so young after first meeting her older- it's like this timey-wimey time travel stuff is real!

I was feeling much better by the time I watched 'Invasion of the Dinosaurs', but that one I just plain disliked. cut for spoilers )
newmoonstar: (Doctor Who Barbara)
My Classic Who watch-a-thon continues- I've just finished marathoning 'Planet of the Daleks' and 'The Green Death', both of which were amazingly awesome!

'Planet of the Daleks' reminded me of the very first Dalek serial a lot (no surprise there- it was written by Terry Nation) and that's probably what I liked about it! Thoughts under the cut )

'The Green Death' was also fantastic- a proper UNIT adventure with the whole gang- and a really fast-paced, exciting story once again. Feels, meta & spoilers under the cut )
newmoonstar: (icon by marble_feet)
Random middle of the night updates are better than no updates I suppose, so-

I took the stage manager position after all. I really want to keep doing theater, and I decided it's best not to turn down opportunities when they're handed to you! This means I will be very busy for the next three months, and so I won't have time to make Clara's governess outfit for Chicago TARDIS this year. :(

BUT- I have three other cosplays planned, and one is almost done, one already started, and the other I have all the materials for- and except for painting the flowers and birds onto Ian's Marco Polo jacket, they're relatively simple, so I should still have all three days of the convention covered! Woohoo! I can do this!!! \o/

Also went to see an exhibit of costumes from Downton Abbey last week- it was amazing! They had them set up in a beautiful historic mansion that was modelled on an English country house, so you really got the full 'stepping into history' ambiance. The costumes are half the reason I watch, tbh, and they're all so exquisite in person. The construction details are interesting to see, & getting to look up close from several angles was a real treat! A lot of the beaded & embroidered pieces were actually from the period, and you just don't see handwork like that anymore! Also it was very surprising to see how tiny all the actresses costumes are. You expect them to be very tall because they have so much screen presence, but they're just average people, albeit very thin ones! There's hope for us short girls yet, lol.

My Classic Who watch-a-thon has already slowed to a crawl before my rehearsals even start, but I finally managed to watch 'The Three Doctors' last night. I felt very strongly that the Second Doctor was written completely out of character, so that was very disappointing, since I'd hoped for one more story with my lovely, sweet, funny Two, and got a rather obnoxious childish substitute instead. Even the Brigadier felt a bit off- his dryly amused air replaced with outright disdain for the Doctor in some instances, so I think the writers were simply not having a good day. The story was alright, & Benton & Jo were adorable as usual, so that was good at least. And of course, the small bits with William Hartnell as the First Doctor really got to me. However small, they're his last appearance as the Doctor, and he's the original and best, in my book. ♥ On to 'Carnival of Monsters' next!
newmoonstar: (Aztec Barbara)
Oh look, I'm actually updating my LJ! It's almost like I'm not the laziest blogger ever. :p

However, in pretty exciting fandom news, there are several guests I really want to see scheduled for Chicago TARDIS this year! Katy Manning, John Levene, and Richard Franklin will all be there, and as I'm currently working my way through the Third Doctor's episodes, I'm very keen for a UNIT family reunion! SQUEEEEE!!! Jenna Coleman will also be there for one day, so I'm going to try to make Clara's governess outfit from 'The Snowmen' for my Saturday cosplay after all. And here was me thinking I'd get off easy cosplaying all First Doctor companions in simple 60s clothes! Oh well... time to get sewing!!

And I'm probably crazy, because I'm considering being stage manager for another show. I'm only considering it because I worked with the director on my last show, but I don't know if I'll have time, much as I'd like to do another show. Stage managing is really my least favorite job, & such a time commitment- and I already feel like I haven't sat down or read a book in ages because I had a convention to sew cosplays for as soon as my last play ended! (Convention pics forthcoming, as soon as I have my 'Rescue' Vicki dress done!)

And now I just hope I'll have time to watch 'The Three Doctors' tonight after I'm through with sewing. Gotta keep on schedule!
newmoonstar: (Doctor Who: The Romans)
Whew! My one (and hopefully only!) stint as a stage manager is done! Tech week was incredibly stressful, but by opening night everything was worked out, and the entire run went well. I won't miss the job, & will be really glad to stick to writing & acting in the future, but I'm so proud of the show, & I'll miss all the awesome people so much! We really were incredibly lucky to have such an amazing cast & crew that got along and had such fun on this production. I hope I'll have the chance to work with everyone again on other productions, & hopefully, since we had one of the performances filmed, we'll have one more get-together for a viewing party when the DVD is ready. :)

I'm SO glad I did it, but I'm also really tired, & the one consolation I have amidst all the sad feels of saying goodbye to everyone is that I can finally get some sleep at last!
newmoonstar: (icon by marble_feet)
I'm afraid I've been horribly neglectful of LJ lately, but the play I'm stage managing opens next week, & there's been lots of work, lots of drama (and I don't just mean in the play itself!) and lots of stress. I really haven't had time for much else, and it'll be even worse when tech week starts on Sunday. 9_9

So I'll try to distract myself from all the worry for a moment with this cool meme, taken from the lovely [livejournal.com profile] lost_spook:

1: Pick five fandoms. List them in alphabetical order.

2: Visit this site to find your first RANDOM POEM OF POWER. Write down the 5th line (yes, even if it's an E.E. Cummings poem and you wind up with an apostrophe). Repeat five times and - you guessed it - list 'em in alphabetical order! (No cheating, mind! This is a challenge and it's always been about creativity.)

3: I think you can see where this is going. Write a very quick 50-word half-drabble for each fandom (try to do it all in one sitting - make your brain explode!), using the line from the poem as a prompt. You don't have to include it in the half-drabble - it's just inspiration.

4: Bravo! Have a cookie.

Drabbles for Anne of Green Gables, Doctor Who, Gargoyles, Lord Peter Wimsey, and ReBoot under the cut )

***
That was quite fun! Some of those prompts were frighteningly appropriate for the fandom they matched up with, I must say! And these are actually my first attempts at writing fic for a fandom other than Doctor Who in over a decade, so yay! Trying new things again! (Though I'm not 100% certain the Gargoyles one wasn't actually half-remembered dialogue from the actual show, lol. But the one good point of obscure fandoms is that no one will call you out for it!) ;D

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